


Incendiary

by SolidStateScouter



Category: Touhou Project
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Gen, Yatagarasu. More like YATAGAYRASU AM I RIGHT
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-22
Updated: 2015-01-22
Packaged: 2018-03-08 13:29:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,864
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3210860
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SolidStateScouter/pseuds/SolidStateScouter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Utsuho Reiuji goes aboveground and meets a shrine maiden.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Incendiary

**Author's Note:**

> I got this in the prompt generator once, and it just. Happened. I'm so sorry

"Kanako-sama! Kanako-sama!" Your voice rings loud and clear over the thrum of the nuclear reactor, and the goddess in question looks up at you from across the walkway, a mug of coffee in hand. She sighs as you rush towards her, past the few kappa and tengu milling about and working on things. Kanako looks up at you expectantly when you reach her, sipping from her coffee slowly. "Kanako-sama!" You say it one last time, for effect.

She just blinks at you and scowls. "I heard you the first time. What is it, Utsuho." Man, she looks tired. You didn't notice that before. She looks really tired.

Concern overrides whatever it is you were going to say. "Are you okay, Kanako-sama? You look tired. Have you been getting enough sleep recently?" Your excited bouncing slows a bit as your concern overtakes you. She's a busy goddess! You wouldn't be surprised if she works herself too hard. "You should get more rest!"

"I'm fine, Utsuho." Her reply is curt and irritable, but it satisfies you nonetheless. "Is that all you came to tell me, or do you have anything else?" It takes you a moment to realize that yes, you had just flown up here to ask her something. You scratch your head, thinking, before it comes back to you, and you grin at her again.

"Kanako-sama!" Kanako jerks her head back when you swing your arm a bit too close to her in your excitement. "Can I go aboveground? I've been doing really good lately and the reactor is doing fine! Please?" The mountain goddess stares at you incredulously. "Pretty please?"

She sighs and nods, running a hand through her poofy blue hair. "Yeah, whatever. I don't know why you think you need to ask me. You can go wherever, I don't care. Just don't blow anything up or cause any trouble, okay?" You nod excitedly and bounce back and forth on your feet, with your right foot clanging noisily against the metal floor. "Still, come back later. Check on the reactor. Make sure everything's okay. Okay?" Another quick, excited nod, and she nods and turns away. "Okay, go ahead."

You're flying through the exit of the Geyser Center before she's done her sentence.

* * *

Aboveground has always been sort of off-limits for you. You - along with Orin - were always tending to what remained of Hell. But now, you can finally go aboveground. Honestly, you don't know what to expect. There's a sun up there, apparently? Bigger and brighter than the one you created, back when you had decided to conquer Gensokyo. You grin to yourself at the thought.

When you arrive aboveground, the light comes, bright and beautiful, and it takes you a couple seconds to take it all in.

It is so bright. Brighter than you expected. A bright disk of light burns far above in the sky - the sun - and it's so wonderful. You giggle and jump, ecstatic at the thought of all these new places to explore. Gensokyo's a big place, you think to yourself as you look over the fields of green grass, and over the shimmering surface of a beautiful, clear lake, and at the forests in the distance.

Above you, on Youkai Mountain, you can see tengu patrols fluttering around and looking down in your direction, presumably chattering amongst themselves. You wave at them, and after a pause, one of them waves back before the patrol moves on, leaving you alone at the base of the mountain. You turn back to the lake after spending a few more minutes admiring the gorgeous sun.

This is going to be fun, you think with a grin and a flare of your dark wings. Very fun indeed.

* * *

"What? What are _you_ doing here?" A somewhat familiar, childish voice brings you out of your thoughts as you near the lake, and a short, blue-haired fairy flutters out of the underbrush. "Do I need to teach you another lesson, birdbrain?" She's yelling at you, for whatever reason. Have the two of you fought before? Maybe. You're not good at remembering faces. Or names. "Are you listening to me?"

"Yeah! Of course I am." You cross your arms and grin at her, and she huffs and flutters higher, looking you in the eye. Her wings seem to be made out of some sort of crystal? They're pretty, you guess. "Uh, have we met before? I can't remember ever meeting someone like you!" The fairy looks at you like she's been punched in the gut, and then her scowl deepens and and she flies away from you.

With a flourish of the same bluish crystals her wings are made of, the fairy crosses her arms. "I'm Cirno! And I'm the strongest! Do you remember that? You should! I'm kind of a big deal, after all, and even though I know that dumb feathery birdbrains like yourself aren't - " 

Man, she's irritating. "Nope, still not ringing any bells!" Cirno frowns deeply, and then looks down with a disappointed huff. "I'm Utsuho, but you can call me Okuu!" You hold out your hand to shake hers, but she just looks at it and then blows a raspberry in your face and flies away. "Okay! Bye, Cirno! Maybe we'll see each other later!" There's no response, and you shrug, continuing on your way.

Maybe you should go pay that shrine maiden who beat you way back then a visit... Now that you think about it, you don't remember her name either. She was strong, though. And pretty cute. A bit rude, maybe, but still pretty damn cute. You nod and soar into the sky, looking around your surroundings for anything that looks like a shrine. What does a shrine look like? 

You realize that you probably need directions, or else you're going to end up getting really, really lost. A few seconds later, you're back on the ground. "Cirno? Hello? Do you know where the, uh. The shrine maiden lives? Where her shrine is?" After a moment of silence, the boisterous fairy pops out of the bushes and glares up at you. 

"I dunno. I can't remember!" Her voice sounds weird, like she's trying to make a joke. You shrug.

"Okay. That's cool. Thanks anyways!" You're about to take off again when she waves her hands frantically.

"No, no! I remember! It's, uh! Over there! She's not a big fan of youkai, though!" After gesturing in some vague direction, Cirno snickers. "She's gonna kick your feathery bird butt!" 

You look at her for a moment. "Is she the strongest?"

Cirno blinks and looks confused for a moment before she shakes her head violently. "No! I'm the strongest! She's nothing compared to me! If I wanted to, I'd freeze her entire shrine into a giant block of ice!"

"Really?" You doubt she's actually as strong as she's claiming, but, hey. It's been a while since you've gotten to have a danmaku battle. "I don't believe you. You're gonna have to prove it!" 

The fairy scowls at you and crosses her arms, huffing in irritation. "You big dummy! I'll show you! I'll show you who the strongest is! I'll kick your dumb bird butt all the way back to the mountain!" 

A grin finds its way onto your features, and you nod, summoning your control rod. "We'll see."

* * *

"B-but... how? I - I'm the strongest!" Cirno whines, lying in a pool of water. You just roll your eyes and unsummon your control rod. That hadn't lasted very long. Probably not the best choice for a warm-up match.

"Nuh-uh. I'm the strongest! Nuclear fusion trumps all else!" The fairy scowls at you as you flare your wings. "Thanks for the match, Cirno!" You shoot up into the sky before she has a chance to reply, kicking up a rather large cloud of dust.

Now, what direction was the shrine in, again?

* * *

Over the years, you've had a lot of unexpected visitors to the shrine - mostly old, defeated enemies. Remilia visits often, sometimes with Sakuya, or sometimes just alone. Either way, she's a nuisance - constantly poking and whining and making a mess of everything. Yukari isn't much better, but she visits even more. (They're probably just trying to get a rise out of you.) Then there's Seija. You don't even want to think about her at this point. 

Still, you're quite surprised when the person knocking at your door is none other than Utsuho Reiuji. The hellraven that tried to conquer the world. She beams at you when you open the door and waves, bouncing back and forth on her feet. Around her shoulders, her cape lies, still sparkling with all those stars. It's a pretty nice cape, you have to admit. 

"What are you doing here, Utsuho." It's a short, blunt question that quickly gets to the point. As much as Rin insisted that Utsuho was harmless, you weren't quite buying it. "I thought you weren't allowed to leave former Hell." 

Utsuho frowns a little, at that, but then she's smiling again. "Nope! The nuclear furnace is doing good! Doesn't need me looking after it _all_ the time! Kanako-sama let me take a break up here!" Of course. "And! I just wanted to come see you. I don't quite remember your name, so..." She scratches at the back of her neck and you sigh. 

Why are you not surprised. "Reimu. Reimu Hakurei." Utsuho nods quickly and seems to try and commit that to memory, but her eyes are already wandering. "Uh, you should leave. If people see all these youkai hanging around my shrine they're not going to come donate." Utsuho furrows her brow at that, apparently confused.

"What do you need donations for? And why won't people donate if they see lots of youkai?" 

You sigh again and lean against your doorframe. "I need donations so that I have money to eat. It's hard to get food around here. It's not like I'm a good hunter. And people are scared of youkai, so they avoid them." This is all pretty simple stuff, but you guess Utsuho's pretty sheltered. Being raised by a mind reader probably leads to situations like that.

Utsuho nods slowly, apparently understanding. "Do you not get a lot of donations?"

"No, I don't. Because youkai won't leave me alone." You make a vague shooing gesture, but she's not looking at you anymore. Her gaze has wandered to the surrounding woods, and to the little pond where Genjii lives. Utsuho's eyes widen curiously and she runs over to the lake, looking inside.

"Reimu! Is this turtle your pet?" You groan and walk down the steps of the shrine, resigning yourself to your fate. She's way too dense to catch your hints, anyways. Whatever. _  
_

You shake your head and sit down next to her, watching her pat Genjii's back. "Uh, sort of? This is Genjii. He's really old and he taught me how to fly. And, he used to talk to me, but..." Your voice trails off into silence and you shrug, but Utsuho seems to be enrapt.

"Aw, that's so cool! I've never heard of a turtle that can fly! Satori-sama would probably love to listen to someone like you, Genjii!" She rubs his shell and smiles at him. You didn't realize this before, but she's pretty cute. Cuter than you expected, you realize, as your eyes wander over her. She's also significantly taller than you. Way back when the two of you fought at her underground sun, she had still towered over you, but you had been so much more focused on dodging her danmaku. Her arm is bare, now, no weird arm cannon or control rod, or whatever it was. But she's still wearing that weird concrete shoe. Or whatever.

Genjii sinks deeper into the water and Utsuho stands up, brushing grass off of her skirt and looking around again, brimming with unused energy. She offers her hand to you, and you take it after a second of hesitation. It's way warmer than you anticipated - it's like she's been holding her hands against hot metal, but it's not searing hot. You guess that's what happens when you swallow a sun god. "It's nice to meet you, Reimu Hakurei!"

"Uh. It's nice to meet you too, Utsuho?" At the very least, she seems to be one of the more bearable youkai you've met. Maybe a bit dense and oblivious, but at least she's not as annoying as Remilia or Yukari. Or as bad as Seija. You shudder a bit at the thought.

She shakes her head really quickly and for a second you think you've fucked up. "You can call me Okuu!" Utsuho grins at you widely, and you just stare back at her blankly, blinking slowly. This... should not be making your mind go as blank as it is right now. The mighty Reimu Hakurei, going up against goddesses and vampires without fear, rendered speechless by a stupidly cute tall girl smiling at her. Fantastic. 

"...Utsuho." You repeat her name after a brief moment of hesitation, refusing to let yourself fall further into whatever it is this is as you try to think of something to get her out of your hair for a while so you can think. "Shouldn't you check up on the reactor again?" You have no idea what will happen if she doesn't, but you just want her away for now so that she doesn't confuse you anymore. 

She blinks and then nods slowly. "Oh, yeah! I should probably check up on that. Don't want it to overheat! The whole mountain would go down, ha." Utsuho flares her wings and then rises into the air. "See ya around later, Reimu!" Then she's flying away, back to Youkai Mountain. You just sit down on the steps to your shrine.

You probably just need to get better at talking to people outside of the few people you're used to talking to, and outside of pre-fight banter. Yeah. That's probably it. You hope.

* * *

The fly back to Youkai Mountain is a slow, warm one that gives you plenty of time to think and bask in the sun.

Reimu was cuter than you remembered, although a lot more humble and homely. Just a girl taking care of herself, cut off from others, without a lot of food or help. That's not fair, you think. She should get more help, more food, more donations. Without her... well, without her, you'd be in charge right now. Well, maybe. There's a lot of other powerful youkai and humans out there that would have tried to stop you. 

She deserves those donations, but the humans are so scared of a couple youkai that they don't bother. What a bunch of stupid cowards. 

It pisses you off. More than you'd care to admit. (Then again, secrecy has never really been a concept of yours - living with a mind reader tends to erase such values.)

Once you get to the furnace, you're pleased to see that it's functioning as it should. No problems. It's temperature was only a bit outside the norm, but that was quickly remedied, and then it was back to perfection. You watch the furnace burn and keep a close eye on all the gauges and numbers, letting yourself fall back into the calming routine that you had embraced ever since your defeat at Reimu's hands.

That shrine maiden was... something special, all right. You decide that you're going to visit her again tomorrow. She looks like she might be lonely, spending all that time in her shrine. Being lonely is a bad thing to be, and you don't want anyone to ever be lonely. It's miserable and stifling.

"Okuu? You're back!" A familiar voice distracts you from your thoughts, and all the sudden a short, warm figure is pressed to your back, arms wrapped around your stomach. You smile and pat Orin on the back before twisting around to face her.

"Yep!" You wrap your arms around her, giving her a big, warm hug. Even after all this time, you're always glad to see Orin coming over to see you. She has a wheelbarrow full of corpses - even if they aren't needed now, you know they'll be needed later. "It's good to see you, Orin!"

She grins and bounces excitedly, braids bouncing with her. "It's good to see ya too, sis!" She pulls away from you and brings the wheelbarrow over to dump the corpses in the holding area, before moving back to see you. "Kanako-sama told me you were aboveground!"

A wide grin spreads across your face and you nod quickly. "Yeah! It was so great! There's a big, warm sun that shines far above the world, and lots of colors and the air feels light and it's really nice! You should come up there sometime, with me!"

Orin nods and clasps her hands together. "Aw man, that'd be great, sis! We should be careful, though. We don't wanna let the furnace overheat." You nod seriously and look back at all the gauges, running a hand through your hair.

"Yeah! There's a lot of people up there, too. It's really cool!" You fall back onto your chair, and then, next thing you know, Orin's sitting on your lap in her cat form, purring contently and snuggling up against your stomach. You chuckle and scratch behind her ears, eyes not leaving all the settings you need to focus on.

She's asleep within ten minutes.

* * *

"You got to go aboveground? How nice of Kanako." Satori's voice is calm, steady and curious as she serves you and Orin your dinner. "Although, I'm not sure if you really needed to go that far to deal with that fairy." You shrug, pleasantly distracted by your dinner, and Orin looks at you curiously over her own plate, although she doesn't say anything either. "And you visited the shrine maiden? That's good. I'm proud of you, Okuu." Satori smiles at you as she sits down at her own spot, and you nod excitedly, gulping your food quickly.

"Yeah! And! She has a really cool turtle in the pond! I think you'd love to meet him!" She knows this already, of course, being a mind reader and all, but you talk anyways. You enjoy it, really. Satori smiles contently and nods.

"Yes, I think I would too. He looks like he has a lot of memories." Her smile fades a bit as she picks at her own food. "I don't think I'll go up, though. People don't like being around satoris. I understand that." You nod understandingly, but at the same time, it irritates you. Satori is perfect and nice and gentle and would never hurt anyone. She smiles at you when she hears your thoughts. "Thank you, Okuu. If only more people thought like you."

You beam at her, before a sudden thought returns to your mind and you choke down your food quickly to share it. Satori's already ahead of you, though. "You want to bring food to Reimu?"

Another quick nod, followed by you swallowing your food. "Yes! She doesn't get a lot of donations, so she doesn't get a lot of food, and... that's not okay! I want to help her! She deserves more food. No one deserves to go hungry, or be alone all the time... I want to help her!" Orin giggles a bit at that, but you don't ask why. Satori just smiles.

"I think I could make some more food tomorrow morning, for you to bring to her." You beam at her again, squirming in your chair. Reimu's going to love it, you're sure - Satori's cooking is the best in the whole world. "Thank you again, Okuu. How nice of you to think that." You giggle excitedly. It's gonna be great.

* * *

You're sipping at your tea, feeling tired and bored, when the telltale sounds of an approaching Utsuho sound in the distance. That is, the disjointed sound of her footsteps, followed by a loud, quick knocking at your door. "Reimu! Reimu! Are you in there?" You stifle a groan and stumble to your feet, moving to answer the door. Although the sight of Utsuho is unsurprising (and strangely, somewhat pleasing), you are a lot more surprised by the box in her arms. It smells _really good._

"Uh, Utsuho... what's...?" You look at her, confused, but she just pushes the box into your arms with a smile. It's warm, unsurprisingly, and smells even better this close up. With a suspicious glance up at the raven, you open the box, and your jaw drops. It's packed to the brim with delicious looking food. This could very well be the most food you've ever had in your shrine at once.

"It's a gift! From me, and from Orin, but mostly from Satori-sama! I told her you didn't get all that much food, and..." Her voice trails off, and you're surprised to see a light blush on her face when you look up. "I hope you like it! Satori-sama's cooking is the best in the world! I'm sure you'll love it!"

This is not a scenario that has ever happened before. This is not something you thought would ever happen. Yeah, maybe you fantasized about getting a bunch of great food once or twice, but you never expected it to actually happen. "I... thank you, Utsuho. This is. Thank you." Utsuho grins  and blushes even deeper, and great, now you're blushing too.

"Call me Okuu, Reimu! Okuu!" She says it so energetically, and you just sigh and allow yourself a small smile.

"Thank you, Okuu." The smile she gives you is as bright as the sun. Appropriate, considering all her powers. You realize, a bit too late, that that's the kind of thing that Sanae would say. A deeper blush spreads across your neck and you look away from her. This is a bit too much to handle right now.

This is probably not how the Hakurei maiden should be speaking to a youkai.

You don't really care. 

"Do you, uh, wanna stay over for a bit?" You ask the question suddenly, before you have time to second guess yourself, and Okuu nods eagerly, eyes sparkling. Like stars. Goddammit, this is too sappy, you need to think about something else, like how muscular she is or - NO.  _Just think about the damn food, Reimu. Think about the fucking food, not her._

In the end, that's easier said than done. At least you tried.

The food was really good, though. The best that you've had in a long, long time.

* * *

When you leave to go back to Youkai Mountain, you almost regret it. You don't really want to leave. All you want to do is lie around with Reimu and talk and eat and just be together. It's making your face heat up and your stomach feels weird and your heart is also feeling weird. You need advice. And who better to ask than a god?

"Kanako-sama! Kanako-sama!" You skid to a stop in front of her, bouncing with an almost nervous energy. She sighs when she sees you and straightens up a bit, crossing her arms. "I need your advice, Kanako-sama!"

Kanako blinks and then nods. "Okay? Go ahead, then." You need to take a moment to collect all your thoughts so that you can convey them without stumbling over them, like usual.

"Okay, you know Reimu, right?" 

"Yes, I know her. Hakurei."

"Yeah! Okay, whenever I talk to her I get this weird feeling in my stomach and my heart beats faster than it usually does and my face gets really hot and! Do you know why this is happening and how I can stop it?" Your words come out as a rushed mess, but she seems to understand them well enough. You think, anyways. She looks a bit confused. Or irritated. Or both.

"Okay, first of all, why are you asking _me_ this? And, really? Of all the people, _Reimu?_ " Okay, yeah, definitely irritated. "You have the spirit of a god in you, why don't you have good taste? You... Really? Reimu?" You just blink at her, confused.

"I don't understand....?" She groans and shakes her head, turning around.

"Go ask Satori or whoever. I'm not your mother, I'm not explaining this to you." She just walks away and grumbles to herself, leaving you even more confused than you were when you asked her in the first place. But, asking Satori does sound like a good idea. She'll know what's up! She knows everything.

* * *

Nearly immediately after you enter the Palace, Satori drifts down the hallway to meet you, looking somewhat confused but also very pleased. "You have a crush on the shrine maiden?" She looks up at you, holding a sleeping cat in her arms. "Oh, you didn't know, did you?"

You just look at her, thoughts racing. A crush? On Reimu? "N-no! I don't have a crush on Reimu! I mean... she's cute and nice and I want to spend more time with her and talk with her and hold her hand and say nice things to her but - oh." Satori chuckles a little as you realize the extent of your feelings. "I have a crush on Reimu."

"Yes. Yes, you do." Satori smiles at you. "She seems nice enough, from what I remember."

It takes you a moment to gather your thoughts, and you bounce on your feet excitedly. "I need to tell her! I really need to tell her soon! Maybe not tonight, but..." You're thinking again, beating your wings quickly to use all your nervous energy up. "And! She loved the food, Satori-sama! She really loved it a lot!"

She nods contently. "Yes. I heard. Maybe I should make her a bit more, hm? Oh? She still has leftovers? Maybe just a little bit more, then. She'll probably appreciate all the food she can get."

Orin stumbles into the hall, yawning and rubbing at her eyes. "What are ya yelling about, sis?" Her voice is a tired whine, and she looks at you through half-closed eyes.

You clap your hands together and swoop forward to face her. "Orin! I have a crush on the shrine maiden!" Orin blinks and then her eyes widen and she grins, giggling. 

"Aw, that's so cute, sis! She's really strong! You'd be good with her, I think! The strongest bird underground and the strongest human above it!" She waves her hands in the air as she says that and giggles again. "Okuu and Reimu sitting in a tree..." She makes kissy faces and snickers.

"Orin..." Your voice is a whine, and you lean forward to ruffle her hair. She laughs again and darts away. She's right, though... that'd be pretty nice, kissing Reimu. A small brush spreads across your cheeks and you laugh a bit, turning around to face an amused-looking Satori. "Satori-sama..." She smiles again and strokes the cat in her arms.

"Come on, Okuu. We should start working on the food for tomorrow. You want to make a good impression on her. Good food will help with that!" She's right, of course. You grin and fly after her on the way to the kitchen. Reimu is going to love this. Hopefully. It's going to be the best food ever and she's going to love you forever for it. 

* * *

You've come to the conclusion that you probably like Utsuho a bit more than you should. She's a _youkai,_ after all, and you're the shrine maiden. It's your job to exterminate pesky youkai, keep them from ruining things for the humans. But here you are, more than likely crushing on Utsuho Reiuji, of all people. You really didn't expect this. 

Like... she's cute, yeah. Nice. Energetic. Really tall and muscular and pretty and - oh god, you need to stop going down that line of thought. Grumbling, you pick up the broom and start sweeping, even though the floor's pretty clean already. This isn't the first time you've swept today, but you need to do something either than sit around and think about her.

Maybe she'll come over tomorrow? You'd rather not get your hopes up. She did say she would, right before she left earlier today, but you're not sure. Part of you hopes that she'll come and bring more food and stay around so you can pass off your reasons for talking to her as boredom, or something. Not as this stupid crush.

Acting on it is not something you want to do, at least not yet. It's a bit nerve-wracking, really. And. As the shrine maiden, you probably shouldn't be consorting with youkai as much as you are now. (Pretty much all of your 'friends' are youkai, you realize.) It's scaring off the villagers. Starving is really not all that high on your list of priorities, and spending more time with Utsuho really isn't going to convince people that the shrine isn't infested with youkai.

It's decided, you guess. You'll tell Utsuho to leave tomorrow - even if the idea of that makes you feel more guilty and nervous than you'd care to admit - and then you'll work on some way to get more donations. The food she brought today will help, but you're going to have to be more careful with it. Eating it all in two days won't help your food shortage problems.

You just hope it goes well.

* * *

The next day, when you hear the powerful beating of Utsuho's wings, followed by her footsteps - one heavy, one not - you take a deep breath and open the door. "Utsuho - " She shoves a box into your arms and beams at you, cutting you off in the middle of your sentence. Slowly, you look at her, then down at the box. It smells really good, just like the food she had brought yesterday, and when you open it, lo and behold, more food. Your stomach rumbles.

Goddammit, she's making this way more difficult than it already was.

"Reimu..." You look back up at her when she starts talking again, a bit surprised to hear that she's sounding... nervous? What could possibly make her nervous. She looks at you, then takes a breath and stands tall. "Reimu, do you wanna go on a date with me because you're really cute and I like you and I wanna spend time with you because you're cute and nice and I like you." The words tumble from her mouth rapidly, and when she's done, she flushes and looks away, laughing nervously.

Your words dry up in your throat and a blush spreads across your cheeks. Of course. Of course, she comes to ask you on a date and does it in a way that's so irritatingly cute. She looks at you, looking increasingly nervous, and you realize you need to respond. Okay, Reimu, just gotta let her down easy. There's no point in complicating things. You just gotta. Say no, you can't, it's not proper for a shrine maiden to date a youkai. 

"Uh, sure."

God fucking dammit.

Okuu - UTSUHO - squeals and grabs your hand and bounces happily, beaming at you brightly. You just flush and look away. God, her hands are warm. "You like me too, Reimu?" Far too embarrassed to even attempt talking, you just nod slowly and awkwardly. Utsuho giggles and pulls away. "That's so great! Where do you wanna have this date?"

"Um. Here is good...?" You don't have the heart to suddenly cancel on her. Not when she's so evidently excited and overjoyed. "We can do it tonight, I guess..." 

She pulls away and nods, eyes sparkling as she bounces up and down. It's loud, with her heavy stone foot slamming against the floor. "Yes! That sounds great! I need to... prepare! So! I'll see you later tonight, then!" 

You nod, appreciating the time she's giving you to prepare yourself and clean up the shrine. You're not sure what you're going to do during the date - have you ever even went on a date before? No. No, you haven't. "Uh. Yeah. See you then, Utsuho."

"Okuu."

A sigh escapes your lips, and you give her a small smile. "See you then, Okuu."

She grins at you and shoots off into the sky, back to Youkai Mountain. 

Now. You need to prepare. A nervous laugh bubbles up in your chest as you turn and move back into the shrine, dropping the box on the table. What are you even expected to do on a date? This is going to be a mess.

* * *

You can't stop yourself from whirling around in the air on the flight back to the mountain. It's just so  _exciting._ Reimu said yes! And now, the two of you are going to go on a great date. It's going to be cute and you're going to get to see her and talk to her and spend time with her. It's going to be so, so  _perfect._

A lone tengu is near the base of the mountain when you arrive there and you wave at her excitedly. She looks familiar. Upon seeing you, she speeds over to your location with a grin on her face. "If it isn't Miss Okuu! Didn't expect to see you here, out and about the surface!" 

She... really looks familiar. "Do I know you...? Sorry, I'm not good with names." You smile at her and scratch the back of your neck. The tengu sighs and crosses her arms, but soon she's smiling again.

"I'm Aya Shameimaru, ace reporter! I took pictures of your danmaku once, remember?" She gestures to her camera, and all the memories come rushing back.

"Oh, yeah! Orin's too." You laugh at the memory. "I hope the pictures turned out nice!"

Aya blinks and then shrugs. "Uh, sure! Stars are a little bit brighter than my camera can handle... So anyways! What are you doing, up and about the surface? D'you like it up here?"

You nod excitedly. "Yeah! It's so great! The sun is so bright and nice, and there's so many cool things up here! Kanako-sama said I could go out if I wanted to, so I did! I've been going out for a couple days, now! It's really nice."

"Mhm." Aya's writing stuff down on a notepad that she pulled out now, and she looks back up at you. "Where'd you go? Visit anyone? Have any nice, thrilling spell card battles?"

"Oh, yeah! I had a battle with some fairy near the lake a while ago! She didn't stand a chance, haha." You puff your chest out proudly. "And! I've been visiting the shrine maiden! Reimu!"

Aya stops and looks up at you curiously. "Really? Reimu? She doesn't accept a lot of youkai visitors, you know."

"Yeah, well, I'm special!" She looks at you for elaboration. "We're going on a date tonight! It's going to be so great! I'm going to get to hold her hand again and she's going to be so cute!"

The crow tengu reporter just stares at you, a grin growing on her face. "...Aw, isn't that sweet." She scribbles something down quickly on her notebook. "Well, I, uh, wish you all the best, Okuu! I have a paper to write, so if you excuse me..." She bows her head to you and then dashes off into the sky, looking very pleased with herself.

"Thank you, Aya! I'm sure it'll go great!"

Now, you need to ask someone for romantic advice... You doubt Satori has the best romantic advice. It's not really her thing, anyways. But. Kanako, maybe? You nod to yourself excitedly. Kanako should know! She's married to that short bouncy frog lady, anyways! She must know so many things about romance!

* * *

The mountain goddess just stares at you blankly. "You're going on a date. With Reimu." She repeats it slowly, like she wasn't sure if she heard correctly. You nod and clap your hands together, grinning. 

"Yes! I know, right? Isn't it great?"

"Uh, sure." Kanako sits down on her chair and rubs her temples slowly. "And why, pray tell, are you coming to  _me_ for romantic advice?" She sounds really tired. Or irritated. Or both. Probably both, now that you think about it.

You shrug slowly. "I dunno who else to ask! Satori-sama and Orin don't know anything about romance! And you're married to the short frog lady, aren't you? So shouldn't romance be, like, your second language?"

Kanako just stares at you, a light blush spreading over her cheeks before she looks away with an annoyed sigh. "Her name's Suwako, Utsuho. And." She groans, running a hand through her hair. A brief moment of silence passes before she stands up, muttering something under her breath. "Okay, just. Have a plan. Don't go into this waving your hands around hoping everything will go how you want it to. Think ahead. And go ask someone else about your damn romantic aspirations, I don't have time for this. Go ask Sanae or Shameimaru or something." 

You perk up. "Sanae! Sanae would know so much about this, you're right! Sorry for bothering you!" You dash away from her before she can respond, moving out the door and up all the way to Moriya Shrine. Sanae will know what to do, you're sure of it. She'll be able to give you all the help and advice you need.

"And get better taste in women! You have a god's spirit!" Kanako's last remark follows you out the door, but you don't pay much attention to it, already thinking about how you're going to ask Sanae.

* * *

"You and Reimu? Really?" Sanae sounds surprised, but seems to share your excitement about it. "I wouldn't have expected that, but. It doesn't matter! That's so cute! Lucky you!"

"Yup! Lucky me!" You grin at her, and she smiles back, sitting down on the chair across from you at the table. "But, really. I've never been on a date before, and... I need your help, Sanae!"

Sanae hums, looking thoughtful. "Well... I do think I can give you some good advice! I am pretty knowledgeable in romance, if I do say so myself." She giggles. "Okay, Okuu, this is what you gotta do..."

* * *

Most of your day is spent cleaning the shrine to perfection and pacing nervously, along with a couple danmaku battles you ended up having with some troublesome fairies that wouldn't leave you alone. And then, you waited. And ate. The food was _really_ good - Satori was a really good cook.  You wonder if Utsuho's going to invite you to her home.

As nice as that may be, you hope not. Being around a mind reader isn't a lot of fun, and the underground is so... stifling. It's not really somewhere you want to be for all that long. You'd rather stay aboveground. She seems to like it up here enough too, anyways. 

After what feels like several hours, you hear her approaching. The beat of wings, heavy stone footsteps, and then excited knocking at your door. Taking a calming breath, you stand up and go to answer the door. Okuu is standing in front of your door, holding a bundle of flowers and fidgeting with them. Upon seeing you, she grins nervously and hands you the flowers. "Uh... Sanae said! That flowers are a good thing to bring someone, so I..." 

You take the bouquet and look at it. It's not really what you expected - there's dandelions and a whole bunch of other flowers you don't know, all shoved into the bouquet together. It's... kind of cute, really. A blush spreads across your face and you smile back at her. "Thanks, Okuu." May as well start calling her that, otherwise she's going to bug you about it forever. "Uh, come in!" You back up and she walks into your shrine slowly, looking around and rubbing the back of her neck.

"Come on. Let's... sit." This is way more nerve-wracking than you anticipated. There's so much to be conscious of. What if she gets bored. What are you even supposed to talk about? Anything? That's probably how it's supposed to go, yeah. The bouquet is still in your hands - you slide it into a vase and then sit down at the table. Okuu sits across from you, looking just as nervous as you feel.

"How was your day, Reimu!" Okuu pipes up suddenly, evidently trying to break the somewhat awkward silence, and you smile at her nervously, appreciating her efforts.

"It was alright. I mean. You asked me out, and that was..." Scary. Unexpected. Nice. Cute. God. Utsuho smiles and you swear, whenever she does that, the room seems so much brighter. "And yours?" 

She crosses her arms and grins. "It was great! You said yes, and I got lots of good advice from Sanae and Kanako-sama, and Orin and Satori are so happy for me! It was a great day!" Suddenly, she looks away from your eyes and blushes lightly. "But, uh, now that I'm with you, it should get even better!" 

Her delivery may not have been smooth, but it still lights a blush on your cheeks and you find yourself smiling a bit. "O-oh..." Your response is an illegible stammer, and you wring your wrists nervously. "T-thank you..." She's already making you blush and stutter. How fantastic is that. She looks proud of herself, though. There's that, you guess.

"Did you like that one? Sanae told me to use it if the opportunity arose..." 

Of course. Of  _course_ she got her romantic advice from  _Sanae._ You nod, and then you're laughing, tears welling in your eyes. This is too much. Utsuho Reiuji is in your house, wooing you with romantic advice she got from Sanae. "T-that's so cute, Okuu. You're cute." The words leave your mouth before you have the time to think about them, and she blushes and you blush even deeper.

Okuu giggles and claps her hands together. "You're cute too, Reimu!" 

* * *

The night is spent mostly talking about random things. About how much Okuu likes the aboveground, with all its plants and animals. But most of all, she says, she loves the sky. She loves looking up at the blue sky, with its clouds, and even better, the sun, shining far above Gensokyo. She absolutely adores it. 

She talks about the reactor, and how it is working on it everyday. Making sure it doesn't overheat, talking with Orin, pestering Kanako. It sounds sweet, really. And in turn, you tell her about life on the shrine. It's not very eventful, but you do tell her a few short stories about some of the other incidents. Dealing with Seija. Fighting Remilia in her mansion. And she listens, absolutely enrapt.

At one point in the night, she asks if she can hold your hand - and you let her, although both of you don't talk about it much after that. You just hold hands and continue talking, not meeting each other's eyes. You're both too red and embarrassed by everything that's happening. Okuu's hand is warm, and rough. You can feel all her callouses, and a few scars.

And now, here the two of you are, sitting on the roof and watching the stars.

Okuu is silent in awe, unable to pry her eyes away from the sky. She's making all these excited, pleased chirping noises, like a bird. Which makes sense, considering she is, in fact, a bird. A raven, you think? Or a crow. It doesn't really matter, they're basically the same thing anyways. As far as you know, anyways.

"The stars are so beautiful!" It's the first thing she's said since you brought her up here, and you look over to her and smile. She looks so, so happy. "Look at them! So shiny and vast and beautiful... did you know that all stars are nuclear fusion reactors? Burning away a hundred million miles in the sky... Kanako told me that!"

You didn't know that, so you shake your head and smile at her. "They are beautiful," you agree, a plan formulating in your mind already. Do you really want to do this, Reimu? Do you  _really_ want to do something  _this_ sappy? You might as well, or else she's going to have been the only one to take any steps on this damn date. You take a deep breath. "But. You're more beautiful than any star."

Okuu goes silent, but you can see a blush spreading across her face. "Oh. That's. That's really sweet, Reimu." She starts bouncing excitedly on the roof, and you're about to tell her that that may not be the best idea when she leans forward and wraps her arms around you. Like her hand, the rest of her body is warm, but the... eye in the center of her chest, or whatever it is, is the warmest. And then she kisses you. On the lips.

She pulls away after a second, but you can see her blush deepening, and you feel like you're on fire. She laughs nervously, but then you pull yourself closer to her and lean against her. "Wanna stay over for a while?"

"Sure."

* * *

"Reimu! Reimu...? Are you awake?" You groan and roll over in bed, awakened by the loud, echoing sound of wood against wood. Marisa. Of course, Marisa. Beside you, a warmer bundle straightens up and yawns, and you jerk away, surprised. Okuu blinks at you, looking tired and confused. But she's fully dressed, at least.

Now you remember. The two of you watched the stars for a while, and then she fell asleep on you and you had to drag her into bed. And then when you went to sleep elsewhere, she whined until you lied down with her. She snuggled you all night. You rub your eyes and stand up to go open the door, but you hear the sound of it opening and stop in your tracks.

Marisa walks into your bedroom, broom in one hand and a roll of newspaper in the other. "Why aren't you awake y - " She stops at the sight of Okuu sitting in your bed, and then just looks over at you slowly, then back to Okuu. "Do you really sleep with that thing on? Isn't that uncomfortable?" She's pointing at Okuu's weird concrete shoe or whatever, and the raven nods, puffing out her chest proudly.

"Yup! It's actually really comfortable!" You can't believe this is happening. You're getting really red again, and you just turn to glare at Marisa.

"What is it." Marisa gives you a crooked smile and hands you the newspaper.

"I was, uh, gonna show you this so we could have a laugh about it, but..."

It's a copy of Bunbunmaru Newspaper.

On the front, in big bold letters, it says "REIMU HAKUREI AND UTSUHO REIUJI? FIND OUT MORE INSIDE", with a big picture of you and Okuu, outlined against the night sky.

_Aya._

"I'm going to fucking kill her," you mutter, crumpling the newspaper up in your hands angrily. You don't know how she heard about this or how she got this picture, but you will fucking kill her for it. "I can't believe this."

Marisa sighs dramatically. "You missed the exclusive interview inside! With the hellraven herself!"

" _What_."


End file.
